Feb. 7, 2008

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COMING UP
Michigan State takes its game on the road, as it heads to Tulsa, Okla., for a weekend doubleheader against No. 25 Tulsa on Friday, Feb. 8, and then No. 20 Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tulsa leads the all-time series over the Spartans, 3-1, while MSU has split the all-time series with the Sooners, 1-1. Michigan State's first meeting with both teams came back in 1941.

LAST WEEKEND
The Spartans are coming off a strong weekend of tennis last Saturday in East Lansing, taking out Toledo, 5-2, then rolling over IUPUI with a 6-1 victory. The Rockets played it close in the first match of the day, coming out tough in doubles, but the Spartans rallied when it counted, and swept all three doubles matches, 8-5, 9-8 (4), 9-8 (3). The Spartans took the momentum from their doubles victory, posting wins in flights 1-4 of singles. No. 1 Nick Rinks made short work of Toledo's Jared Miller, 6-1, 6-1, and extended his undefeated streak to 8-0 in dual-match play. Adam Monich also stayed undefeated in 2008, as he downed Toledo's Nutthavit Likitkumchorn, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 4 singles.

In the second matchup of the day, the Spartans wasted no time, crushing the Jaguars for the doubles point, 8-3, 8-3, 8-2. In singles competition, Monich picked up his first win of the year at No. 1, defeating IUPUI's Gabriel Garcia, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6), and now has an undefeated mark of 8-0 in dual-match play. John Stratton returned to the singles lineup for MSU, and picked up his first win of the year, ousting Josh Kutch, 6-2, 6-1.

TULSA SCOUTING REPORT
The No. 25 Golden Hurricanes are 4-2 in spring-season play, but have dropped their last two matches against No. 2 Georgia, 6-1, and No. 5 Ole Miss, 7-0. All-American Arnau Brugues finished the 2006-07 season ranked fifth in the nation, while posting a singles record of 31-7. Brugues garnered many awards last season, including all-conference first team and C-USA Player of the Championship. The junior is 5-2 so far this year, and has posted a 4-2 record at No. 1 singles. Senior Ricardo Soriano, ranked No. 44 this season, finished last year's campaign with a mark of 22-13 in singles play, while going 7-2 in doubles, and earning all-conference first team honors.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
The No. 20 Oklahoma State Cowboys have had a tough start to the season, recording a 1-2 mark, including losses to No. 39 California and No. 5 Ole Miss. Sophomore Oleksandr Nedovyesov is 2-0 at No. 1 singles, and 3-0 at No. 1 doubles. The Cowboys have three players currently ranked in the top 100 in the nation in singles, including No. 20 Nedovyesov, No. 71 Ivan Puchkarov and No. 77 Dmytro Petrov.

SO FAR
At 7-2, The Spartans are off to their best start since the 2004-05 season, when they came out of the gate 8-2. MSU won its first five matches this season, before dropping two matches in a row to No. 33 Vanderbilt, and No. 11 Notre Dame. The Spartans bounced back last weekend with dominating performances over Toledo and IUPUI at home.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Nick Rinks (9-0) and Adam Monich (8-0) have led the singles play for MSU, both starting the spring season undefeated. In doubles play, Monich has posted the best record on the team, going 7-1. Ranked No. 14 in nation in the pre-season rankings, the senior duo has begun the season 3-0 at No. 1 doubles.

COVERAGE
The men's tennis match between Tulsa and Michigan State can be seen through live video provided by the University of Tulsa.

NEXT UP
Michigan State returns home for a match against Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 16 in East Lansing. The match will be familiar territory for head coach Gene Orlando, who was a graduate of Ball State in 1987. Orlando's alma mater holds a 10-8 edge over the Spartans in the all-time series.